The Letter: Then and Now
by JN17
Summary: Tommy reminisces about the letter and discovering the identity of the man Kim left him for. What happens when that man was his best friend and he just worked with him and the other red rangers. I Almost rated M, but it's a little too tame for that. PREQUEL NOW UP: The Betrayal!


_Set in 2002. Nothing belongs to me unfortunately. I heard some rumors about deleted scenes/rejected ideas in the Turbo Movie and the Forever Red episode. This is the product of my reading the rumors. This story is from Tommy's point of view_

It was over and they had won, but it still hurt. Not the deep cuts, extreme bruises, or his possible concussion; he'd felt all of these before. In fact, he welcomed that pain compared to what he was feeling now. Just seeing him again; the man that had taken her. Seeing his face hurt like a hundred stab wounds, a thousand falls from the megazord, fifty broken bones, and as many 3rd degree burns that he'd ever had, all at once. The worst part… that man had been his best friend. Jason, his teammate that he had considered a brother was the one who had taken Kimberly; the 'man she was meant to be with' according to that damn 'Dear John' Letter she'd sent six years ago.

He hadn't even known, he had gone on innocently thinking that Kim had met someone when she was training for the Pan Global's, her apartment complex, or just some random stranger in Florida. He had never imagined it had been his best friend. Yes, Jason and Kim had always been close, but he had always interpreted it as a big brother-big sister situation, but no according to the letter _he_was the brother figure. What had happened that made Jason decide to steal her away? Yeah, maybe he hadn't been calling Kim as much as he should have, but with school, ranger duties, her insane gymnastic practice schedule, and the time difference it had been all but impossible. He'd tried his hardest; he sent letters whenever he couldn't call. That last time he saw her before the letter, for Christmas, everything had seemed fine. Even after these years, he had never forgotten that last visit; the last time they had made love. It had been passionate; seemingly turning the very blood in his veins to fire, and even though it had always been this way with Kim, this time had felt different. A new level of incredible. How many times he had tortured himself thinking about that night, how she had panted his name, scratched the skin on his shoulders, and lost all control with him inside her? Afterwards he'd even been planning a trip Florida. A trip that never happened. Only five months after their wonderful Christmas together; the letter. Had she known even then as she kissed him under the mistletoe in the youth center, as they made love, as she had told him she loved him before she left? Was she already in love with him? That letter had screwed him up, turned his insides to rubble, made him want to throw himself in front of the sword of every monster he had ever faced. He knew Kat had been being too friendly since she had come to Angel Grove and yeah, maybe he hadn't been clear enough with her that it was never going to go anywhere, but it never had; and Kim knew that. So maybe she had just fallen in love with Jason as she had said; somehow that hurt even worse.

Over time though, after the initial shock of the letter had worn off end he had finally felt like he could breathe again; his and Kat's relationship had turned into something. Kat loved him and although he said the same; the sentiment wasn't truthful. He cared for her, but she was a replacement. She wasn't the one he loved, she never could be, no one could. Every time they touched, every time they had sex (he had only made _love_ to Kim) he thought of Kim. He had had to stop himself from saying her name, more than once. He wasn't the one to blame though, he had taken the best option that was left to him. Jason had taken the only really one, the only one he had ever wanted.

He remembered the first time he learned it was Jason. It had been a little over a year after the letter; when they were graduating and planning for their future; when they had just gotten their turbo powers. He had been told that Divatox had captured civilians and they had to get in there and get them out. He hadn't expected to see her face on the viewing screen. All that pain come right back, and then seeing the face next to her…that one brought confusion. Jason…what was he doing there? The confusion only lasted a few minutes until what they were saying had registered. They were saying how they hoped to make it out alive, and then came the words that hurt. He would never forget Kim telling Jason she loved him, seeing them embrace and share a passionate kiss, and then hearing Jason saying that although they were captured, he was not going to let it ruin what he had planned. He had not only learned that they were together, but he'd seen Jason propose to her and see her say yes all within a matter of minutes. He had had to excuse himself, Kat probably knew that it was about Kim, but there was no way she knew the depth of what he felt by seeing that. He had gone to his personal chambers in the command center, laid on his bed, and wept. He had felt betrayed, his best friend was the one that had taken and made his girl fall in love with him? He just couldn't understand. And with Kim—even though he had already gotten with Kat—he had still carried hope of getting her back from whatever guy she had found. Seeing her agree to marry Jason…his heart hadn't broken…it disappeared.

Then fighting them both after they were turned evil, he couldn't hurt Kim, he still loved her. Jason; he had wanted to beat his skull against the ground; the only reason he hadn't…he didn't want to fight him when Jason was evil…he wanted to do it man to man no outside influences. When the whole thing was over and their tournament finished, he wanted to challenge him right there, but he hadn't. He saw Kim run up and congratulate him, saw the diamond ring sparkle on her finger, saw them kiss, and he couldn't do it. After Kim had left though, Jason had tried to talk to him; this only infuriated him even more. He had acted as if nothing had happened. That's when he had snapped, he had asked Jason what he had been thinking, what had made him betray his best friend. He hadn't had an answer. They hadn't talked since.

Now he had just worked with the man that had taken her, her husband. He had said he wasn't expecting Jason and it had been true. He hadn't even been the one that told him about it. He had told Rocky; Rocky must have passed on the word. Rocky hadn't shown up though. If he had to guess he'd say it'd been a combination of Aisha's (now Rocky's fiancé) worries and the fact that he was the only one that had known what happened and didn't want to be there when he and Jason went at it.

He snapped back to the present. He was leaning against the warehouse watching everyone say their goodbyes; except for Aurico the red alien ranger whom had left while they were still in space.

"So T.J" he heard Leo, the galaxy ranger say, "how are you and Cassie?"

T.J smiled "great we just got married last year."

"And you Andros?" Leo asked.

"Ashley and I got married too same day actually; double wedding."

"Oh don't hold out on him" T.J. interjected with a smile.

He saw Andros grin. "We have a two and a half month old." He watched as everyone congratulated the new father. "What about you Leo?"

"Well after we freed Kendrix's life force, we haven't let each other go. We're engaged."

"Me and Dana too" Carter said. "What about you and Jen, Wes?" he asked.

"Well," Wes said "we thought she was going to have to go back to the future after we teamed up with Cole and his buddies. We were all set for the goodbye, but they let her stay. We're engaged…and pregnant."

"Yep" he tends to do things in the wrong order" Eric joked as he slapped Wes on the back.

"Hey you and Taylor have seemed pretty cozy since you guys met a month ago" Wes retorted.

"Yeah well, we're official now, boyfriend and girlfriend and all that jazz" Eric smiled.

"I already knew that" Cole stated.

"Oh did Taylor tell Alyssa?" Eric asked.

"You know it. And no secrets between a couple."

Eric snorted. "Taylor told me you won't shut up about how Alyssa agreed to date you."

All the guys laughed. "What about the other red ranger, Rocky?" T.J asked.

"Newly engaged to Aisha; the yellow ranger when he was red" Jason stated matter of factly.

"What about Tommy?" Andros asked.

He felt his shoulders stiffen when he heard his name mentioned.

"Married to Kat" he heard Jason reply.

This made him angry. Of course he didn't mention the fact that he only married her because Jason married his true love. In the distance he could see as Cole smiled. "He really is the best ranger ever isn't he?"

He heard all the others all chime in with a 'nah.'

"Are you kidding," Jason stated. "I was doing all the work while he was at the Juice Bar kissing on Kimberly."

"Wait, isn't that your wife?" He heard someone ask.

"Yes, long story."

He felt his blood boil…that's all he was going to say about it?

"How are you guys?" he heard T.J. ask.

"Great we've been married three years now, and she's seven months pregnant with our first child."

He felt himself walk back into the warehouse. He punched the wall leaving behind a large fist-shaped dent. They were pregnant…He heard the cars pulling away, but didn't hear him coming until it was too late.

"Hey man" he heard.

That voice used to bring a smile to his face, but now it just brought bile to his mouth.

"Tommy."

He looked over to see Jason looking at him. All he could see was the ring on his left ring finger.

"Tommy, I don't think I ever apologized for what happened. We were best friends. Me and Kim…it wasn't planned it just happened."

He looked Jason in the eyes. "She was the love of my life; the only one I've ever loved and my best friend married her and she's going to give birth to his…_child_."

Jason's face fell "What about Kat?"

"You know as well as I do, she's never held a candle to Kim."

"You don't love her?"

"My only love is married to the man I thought was my best friend." He saw the hope of reconciliation drain from Jason's face.

"I was hoping we could put this behind us, I miss my bro" Jason stated.

He felt his voice rising, "If you came here expecting an it's okay your forgiven" he was yelling now; "you are more fucked than I thought you were. You betrayed your best friend. Friends don't do that."

"I see" Jason replied turning and walking away. "Our child's a boy" he saw Jason turn to face him, right before he left. "We're going to name him Thomas." Jason didn't say another word as he left.

He rubbed his temples. "Oh Kim" he sighed. "I miss you…why did you fall for Jason."

Just then he heard sniffling and a sob. He turned around and saw Kat step out of the shadows.

"I came to pick you up" she said in her dainty Australian accent. "I want-ed to see you…make sure you were al-right."

"How much did you hear?" he asked.

"Was I always just a replacement?" She asked.

"I'm sorry" he said.

"Di-d you ev-er love me?"

She was weeping so hard, he noticed. "I.." he paused.

"That's what I thou-ght."

It seemed impossible, but she cried even harder.

"I knew when we got toget-her you were still hur-ting…but I thought you eventually gr-ew to love me…I guess I was wr-ong."

"Kat, I…"

"St-op," she said still crying; holding up a hand. She lowered it and pulled the ring off. She handed it to him and walked away. "Goodbye Tommy" was all she said; then she was gone.

Tommy looked at the ring in his hand. It had been his birth mother's given to him when he went on his spirit quest for his Zeo Crystal; finding out about what had happened to cause his adoption. He had originally intended to give it to Kimberly, on the trip he had been going to make to Florida. But it had went to Kat. It represented everything that had gone wrong in his life. He always knew he would never get over Kim, and the way he felt today was no surprise to him. But, he was going to have to try; his life couldn't go anywhere if he didn't. Maybe this time he'd be more successful.


End file.
